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Describes the revenue structure of U.S. public education. Covers funding by federal, state, and local governments. Examines in detail two federal education laws: the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Although these laws account for less than 7% of U.S. public funding for education, their mandates strongly influence the activities of schools and school districts. Includes a bibliography. A rewritten version of an earlier note.

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Surveys educational outcomes among public school students in the United States. Educational outcomes are categorized as achievement outcomes (measured primarily by students' performance on standardized test results) and attainment outcomes (measured primarily by students' completion rates at various grade levels). Deals with outcome trends within the general U.S. school-aged population and covers educational outcomes in various subpopulations of students, including ones defined by race, income, family background, and gender. Describes student outcomes in U.S. public education; it does not explain them. For example, the first half of the note presents data on stagnating achievement levels in the general U.S. population over the last 30 years, but it does not cover in any detail the debate that surrounds the causes of this trend. Similarly, the second half of the note summarizes, but does not interpret explicitly, certain stark correlations between students' educational prospects and their race and socioeconomic status.

A rewritten version of an earlier note.

learning objective:

Designed for a survey course on education reform taught at Harvard Business School. Covers broad trends in student outcomes over the last 30 years.

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The KIPP Academies are, two high-performing public middle schools founded in 1995 by Michael Feinberg and David Levin in Houston and New York. In January 2000, Feinberg and Levin meet with Scott Hamilton, managing director of the Pisces Foundation, to discuss the possible national replication of the KIPP school model. In addition to covering the wisdom and nature of a possible expansion strategy, they need to assess their common understanding of the essential attributes of the KIPP school program. The history of Feinberg and Levin's efforts to open their schools and the characteristics of their mature schools are presented.

learning objective:

To assess the essential features of the KIPP school model, its founders, and its development; to identify the attributes of the model most central to potential replication; to discuss the nature and challenges of effective instructional and school leadership in schools with disadvantaged students.

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Set in the fall of 2003, covers managerial challenges facing the CEO and COO of Aspire Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school management company. In operation since 1999 and funded by prominent national foundations and venture philanthropies, Aspire operates 10 public charter schools in northern California. The leadership team at Aspire is contemplating expanding to Los Angeles, a move rich with operational and strategic complexity. Covers in detail Aspire's financial, operating, and instructional models.

learning objective:

To explore the managerial and strategic complexity of Aspire's school replication model and, generally, of charter management organizations.

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This case is set in the summer of 2002 in a recently approved charter middle school in Boston. The school's founders face a choice of compensation plans as they finalize the initial teaching team in the school. In particular, the founders are actively considering two performance-based compensation plans as alternatives to the standard salary structure of public schools. These schemes vary in the degree to which they reward individual and school-wide performance, and both are controversial in principle and in practice. The protagonists' consideration of the topics range from specific implementation concerns about how to specify and gather performance data on teaching to the most general of inquiries about the nature of excellent teaching and teachers. Rich in biographical data on the schools' founders and on their educational and managerial philosophies. Exhibits include benchmarking data on performance compensation plans in selected charter schools in the northeast. Exhibits also profile compensation and promotion provisions in the Boston Public Schools.

learning objective:

To debate the merits of various compensation alternatives in public schools. To investigate the nature of high-performing school teams of teachers, an inquiry that involves consideration of, among other topics, how teachers learn and the nature of teaching.

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This note surveys school choice in the United States. School choice characterizes the school assignment of approximately 56% of U.S. school-aged children and, in order of popularity, can be categorized into seven types: residential choice, private schools, intra- and inter-district choice programs, magnet schools, home schooling, charter schools, and voucher initiatives. Presents data and description on each discrete category of choice. They vary considerably in their purposes and design, in the students they attract, and in their funding and legal posture. Summarizes the history and policy debate to school choice and current research on its effects. Includes a bibliography.

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Surveys the history, structure, and activities of the two dominant U.S. teachers unions-the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The NEA and AFT represent approximately 90% of U.S. public school teachers and have grown rapidly since the widespread legalization of collective bargaining among public sector employees, beginning in the 1960s. Focuses on noncontroversial data related to the growth and functioning of the AFT and NEA. Presents but does not evaluate the policy debates and research that cover the effects of unionism on student achievement and other attributes of the U.S. system of public education. Includes a bibliography.

learning objective:

To inform readers about the history and function of organized labor in U.S. public education.

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This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.

Covers the origin, evolution, and nature of the KIPP Academies, two high-performing public middle schools founded in 1995 by Michael Feinberg and David Levin in Houston and New York. In January 2000, Feinberg and Levin meet with Scott Hamilton, managing director of the Pisces Foundation, to discuss the possible national replication of the KIPP school model. In addition to covering the wisdom and nature of a possible expansion strategy, they need to assess their common understanding of the essential attributes of the KIPP school program. Covers in detail the history of Feinberg and Levin's efforts to open their schools and the characteristics of their mature schools.

learning objective:

To assess the essential features of the KIPP school model, its founders, and its development. Also to identify the attributes of the KIPP school model most central to a potential replication effort, and to discuss the nature and challenges of effective instructional and school leadership in schools with disadvantaged students.

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